Succotash NOLA, a Southern-inspired restaurant led by Kimberly “Chef K” Cochran, opened on New Year’s Eve at 1041 Dumaine St. in a historic building that has sat silently abandoned for ten years. Succotash celebrates New Orleans culture and Cochran’s connection to the city and its food. The restaurant aspires to be an integral addition to the French Quarter and will honor the history of building while creating new food traditions.
Kimberly Cochran has had a love for cooking since she was a child however, her first career was in corporate finance. Although she found success there, she was inspired to take a chance on herself and transition into the food world. She started her catering company, Succotash, in 2014. During this time, she attended culinary school and worked under some of her favorite chefs, honing her craft.
When searching for a location for Succotash NOLA, Cochran fell in love with the building on Dumaine St.
She explains, “When I was looking, everything I would find would require too much work that I couldn’t afford to do myself or it wasn’t setup right. When I was shown the building on Dumaine it was like walking into heaven. It was so perfect and you could tell whoever built the building was a chef who knew exactly where everything was supposed to be.”
At Succotash, diners can expect traditional dishes Cochran enjoyed as a child, but elevated. She describes the menu as local food made with ingredients that she can get year-round.
A full menu is still being developed, but Cochran described one dish, Crab Ménage à Trois, as fried softshell crab and lump crabmeat in a crab fat curry sauce. Another dish on the menu is Duck Duck No Goose, a dirty rice dish made with every part of the duck. Cochran starts with duck fat, adds duck meat, and finishes it off with scallions, crispy duck skin, and a fried egg. The dish is topped with apricot duck sauce.
One element that distinguishes Succotash and Cochran’s cooking style is her commitment to using every part of each animal—nothing goes to waste in her dishes.
“I use every part of every animal and that’s how I design my menu,” she says. “We will always offer soups, gumbos, and bisques because they let me use parts that other restaurants might discard. I make stocks from bones and other ingredients—nothing here comes out of a jar or box.”
Other menu highlights include the restaurant’s namesake, Succotash, made with fresh local corn, lima beans, and smoky andouille sausage; May The Sous Vide With You, featuring sous vide quarter or half pasture-raised chicken finished with crispy chicken skins and greens on a savory cream sauce; Jacques Shrimp Salad, with local Louisiana shrimp steamed and seasoned, tossed with sweet pickled English cucumber, lemon aioli, fresh dill, fresh tarragon, and pops of salmon roe, served with toasted buttery croissant crustinis; and Shrimp and Grits, with perfectly seared Gulf shrimp atop creamy stone-ground grits and a flavorful Creole sauce.
The cocktail program is run by Thomas Moore IV, who created a complex list of ten to twelve signature cocktails perfectly designed to complement Succotash NOLA’s menu. One cocktail meant to be paired with Duck Duck No Goose is the Black Swan, a bold, boozy, complex cocktail made with rum and amaro. Moore describes it as a tribute to New Orleans as a Caribbean city.
Cochran is excited about the future of Succotash NOLA and about putting her own mark not only on the French Quarter but also on the building where Succotash is located.
“We are a brand-new place with a new concept, and our restaurant isn’t pretentious,” she says. “Anybody can come and have a normal night out or have a fancy night, if you so choose. I want things to be familiar, beautiful, slightly different, and not pretentious.”
Succotash NOLA is open Wednesday through Sunday from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM.
